I've seen a lot of baby clothes with things written on them like, "accident" or "the condom broke" and so on. Once I saw a toddler with, "I'm a bastard but my mama loves me anyway". Am I the only person who finds these things grossly inappropriate?

Oh, and on the deionised and distilled water thing: deionised water is expensive, yes, and not necessarily clean to drink (although it was probably fine if it was in a lab). Water normally has a small amount of dissolved minerals etc. in it, making it isotonic with our cells. Purified (i.e. distilled) water has almost nothing in it, so it can theoretically cause trouble. However, there is actually very little difference between the two, because tap water has such a small concentration of solutes to start with. And almost no foods or other drinks are isotonic anyway, yet we can eat/drink a fair amount of them without any trouble. So a glass of purified water won't do you any harm just like a glass of milk or apple juice is harmless. Actually, drinking too much normal old water is bad and can cause death (dilutional hyponatremia--look it up). Purified water is just the same, although it takes slightly less water to do it (i.e. a few percent). In the end, though, we are still talking litres and litres, and the difference is negligible at that amount. It sounds a lot like the teacher was stretching the truth, honestly didn't know or had misinterpreted something, or was trying to stop students wasting school money by drinking water that was expensive to purify/deionise.

Anything aimed at pre-teens that involves any one (or more) of the following:-Any wording related to sex (for example, emblazoning the word "Slut" across the chest of a five year old [I so wish I was making that up])-The playboy bunny-handcuffs (as a fashion accessory [again, wish I was making it up])

I also tend to think that padded push-up bras and thongs (as in the underwear, not as in the shoes) aimed at pre-teens are also fairly inappropriate (unnecessary?), but as I generally can't see if a child is wearing either of those (if I *can* see, that's a whole other layer of inappropriate!), I try to pretend they don't exist.

Anything aimed at pre-teens that involves any one (or more) of the following:-Any wording related to sex (for example, emblazoning the word "Slut" across the chest of a five year old [I so wish I was making that up])-The playboy bunny-handcuffs (as a fashion accessory [again, wish I was making it up])

There's a product aimed at pet owners that's a tracking device - it's advertised as "keeping your pet off the pole". I know they mean lost and found ads, but that's literally the only thing I remember about the product (not even the name!).

Anything aimed at pre-teens that involves any one (or more) of the following:-Any wording related to sex (for example, emblazoning the word "Slut" across the chest of a five year old [I so wish I was making that up])-The playboy bunny-handcuffs (as a fashion accessory [again, wish I was making it up])

Agreed!! So gross.

I think those are all classless regardless of the age they're targeted at.

Anything aimed at pre-teens that involves any one (or more) of the following:-Any wording related to sex (for example, emblazoning the word "Slut" across the chest of a five year old [I so wish I was making that up])-The playboy bunny-handcuffs (as a fashion accessory [again, wish I was making it up])

Agreed!! So gross.

I think those are all classless regardless of the age they're targeted at.

I rather enjoy Playboy. It was a better magazine before the new editor took over; but it is still better than most on the market. Their short fiction is always excellent, as are their political pieces. Is it for adults? Yes. It is not appropriate for pre-teens. Judging it in the same manner as literature for 12 year olds is just silly.

Logged

It's alright, man. I'm only bleeding, man. Stay hungry, stay free, and do the best you can. ~Gaslight Anthem

I also detest the onesies or infant t's that say "the condom broke." Or some other manner of announcing to the world that the child wasn't planned for. Heck I have one that wasn't planned for, and the age difference between himself and his older brothers tends to invite "he was a surprise wasn't he?" comments so I'm sure not going to announce it!

Unfortunately there are a few classless folks that pick up kids at the elementary school my middle child attends. Last year I saw a guy with a t-shirt that said "I love *scrabble act* like a fat kid loves cake." Niiice...

Logged

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

I've seen a lot of baby clothes with things written on them like, "accident" or "the condom broke" and so on. Once I saw a toddler with, "I'm a bastard but my mama loves me anyway". Am I the only person who finds these things grossly inappropriate?

Oh, and on the deionised and distilled water thing: deionised water is expensive, yes, and not necessarily clean to drink (although it was probably fine if it was in a lab). Water normally has a small amount of dissolved minerals etc. in it, making it isotonic with our cells. Purified (i.e. distilled) water has almost nothing in it, so it can theoretically cause trouble. However, there is actually very little difference between the two, because tap water has such a small concentration of solutes to start with. And almost no foods or other drinks are isotonic anyway, yet we can eat/drink a fair amount of them without any trouble. So a glass of purified water won't do you any harm just like a glass of milk or apple juice is harmless. Actually, drinking too much normal old water is bad and can cause death (dilutional hyponatremia--look it up). Purified water is just the same, although it takes slightly less water to do it (i.e. a few percent). In the end, though, we are still talking litres and litres, and the difference is negligible at that amount. It sounds a lot like the teacher was stretching the truth, honestly didn't know or had misinterpreted something, or was trying to stop students wasting school money by drinking water that was expensive to purify/deionise.

Gotcha. It wasn't school money, though; we had to buy it. So it would basically be just shooting ourselves in the foot, since we'd have to re - buy the water we drank.

Logged

"It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends" - Harry Potter

At least the days are gone (I hope) when candy racks commonly included boxes of white sugar (faux-)cigarettes for kids. I used to like them and they were cheap, but that was 50 years ago.

I remember having those as a kid and then seeing them in a candy store about 20 years ago. It really made me mad that they were encouraging kids to pretend to be smoking cigarettes. I probably said something to the proprietor, but don't recall. Stores used to sell bubble gum cigars, too, but I look more like a cigar than they did, so it didn't bother me.

Logged

I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.

At least the days are gone (I hope) when candy racks commonly included boxes of white sugar (faux-)cigarettes for kids. I used to like them and they were cheap, but that was 50 years ago.

I remember having those as a kid and then seeing them in a candy store about 20 years ago. It really made me mad that they were encouraging kids to pretend to be smoking cigarettes. I probably said something to the proprietor, but don't recall. Stores used to sell bubble gum cigars, too, but I look more like a cigar than they did, so it didn't bother me.

I remember those candy cigarettes and cigars too. I never cared for the cigarettes but the cigars, I thought were intended for new fathers to pass out to friends, in the old tradition of giving out real cigars, so they could give a tobacco free alternative that still retained enough of the tradition to be meaningful. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen any that weren't either pink with "It's a girl" on the wrapper or blue with "It's a boy".

So, while the cigarettes I find distasteful because they might encourage kids to smoke, the cigars I think are pretty cool, because they are an alternative to tobacco.

Unless there are bubble gum cigars out there that do not get used for this purpose, that I just don't know about, which is entirely possible.